Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a refrigerator including a shelf constructed in a structure in which a support panel is mounted on a frame. The refrigerator includes a main body having a storage compartment defined therein and a shelf mounted in the storage compartment. The shelf includes a support panel, a frame to support the edge of the support panel, a support protrusion formed along the inside edge of the frame to support the lower edge of the support panel, catchers formed at the front corners of the frame to catch the front corners of the support panel, and coupling members mounted at the rear corners of the frame to fix the rear corners of the support panel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-019189, filed on Feb. 26, 2007 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and, more particularly, to a refrigerator that is capable of preventing the separation of a glass shelf mounted in a storage compartment, thereby preventing damage to the glass shelf.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a plurality of shelves is mounted in a storage compartment of a refrigerator. The shelves, which are vertically spaced apart from each other, partition the interior of the storage compartment into multiple stages to increase the efficiency of the storage space utilization and accomplish easy receipt of food to be stored.

Each shelf includes a support panel formed in the shape of a rectangular plate and made of reinforced glass and a frame coupled to the edge of the support panel. Generally, the shelf includes a step-shaped support protrusion which is provided at the inside edge of the frame to support the edge of the support panel. Consequently, the shelf is assembled in a structure in which the edge of the support panel is caught by the support protrusion of the frame, and is then mounted in the storage compartment of the refrigerator like a drawer.

In the shelf, however, the support panel is not fixed to the frame but is instead placed on the frame. As a result, when the shelf is removed from the storage compartment or the mounting position of the shelf is changed, the support panel may be separated from the frame, and therefore, the support panel may be damaged.

In this connection, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2006-63492 discloses a shelf for refrigerators constructed in a structure in which the edge of a support panel is fitted in a groove continuously formed along the inside edge of a frame. In the disclosed shelf, the support panel is securely fitted in the groove of the frame, whereby the separation of the support panel from the frame is prevented.

During the assembly of the disclosed shelf, however, it is necessary to insert the edge of the support panel into the grooves of the frame, with the result that the coupling between the support panel and the frame is complicated and troublesome. Furthermore, it is necessary to divide the frame into several elements for the coupling between the support panel and the frame, whereby the manufacture of the shelf is difficult.

SUMMARY

Therefore, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a refrigerator including a shelf constructed in a structure in which a support panel is mounted on a frame, whereby the assembly of the shelf is easily accomplished while the support panel is securely fixed to the frame.

Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The forgoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing a refrigerator including a main body defining a storage compartment therein and a shelf mounted in the storage compartment, wherein the shelf includes: a support panel, a frame to support an edge of the support panel, a support protrusion formed along an inside edge of the frame to support a lower edge of the support panel, catchers formed at front corners of the frame to catch the front corners of the support panel, and coupling members mounted at rear corners of the frame to fix rear corners of the support panel.

The frame is constructed in a structure in which the top of the supporting protrusion, excluding regions corresponding to the catchers, is open.

Each coupling member includes a support part to cover the top of the corresponding corner of the support panel and hook coupling parts mounted to the frame, and the frame is provided at the rear corners thereof with catching grooves, in which the hook coupling parts are coupled.

The catchers are formed in a shape to cover the top of the front corners of the support panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a shelf and a storage box of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the shelf of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a catcher of the shelf of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a coupling member of the shelf of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiment of the present invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiment is described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

As shown in FIG. 1, a refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a main body 10 having a storage compartment 11, which is opened at the front thereof, defined therein and a door 12 to open and close the storage compartment 11.

At the inside rear of the storage compartment 11 is mounted an evaporator 14 to cool the storage compartment 11. Above the evaporator 14 is mounted a cool air circulation fan 15 to circulate air in the storage compartment 11. The evaporator 14 is adjacent to the rear wall of the main body 11. In front of the evaporator 14 is mounted an inside panel 17 to partition a space where the evaporator 14 is mounted from the storage compartment 11 and to define a cool air circulation channel 16.

In the inside panel 17 are formed a plurality of discharge holes 18 to dispersedly discharge cool air, guided through the cool air circulation channel 16, to the storage compartment 11. The cool air circulation fan 15 blows the air, having passed through the evaporator 14, to the cool air circulation channel 16 such that the air in the storage compartment 11 is circulated through the evaporator 14.

At the bottom of the main body 10 is defined a machine compartment 20, which is partitioned from the storage compartment 11. In the machine compartment 20 are mounted a compressor 21, a condenser (not shown), and a refrigerant expansion device (not shown).

In the storage compartment 11 are mounted a plurality of shelves 30, which are vertically spaced apart from each other. The shelves 30 partition the interior of the storage compartment 11 into multiple stages to efficiently use the storage space. In the inside bottom of the storage compartment 11 is mounted a drawer type storage box 25 to store vegetables and/or fruit. The lowermost shelf 30, mounted on the storage box 25, covers the top of the storage box 25 to maintain the interior humidity of the storage box 25, as shown in FIG. 2, thereby minimizing the dehydration of the vegetables and/or fruit.

As shown in FIG. 3, the shelf 30 includes a support panel 31 formed in the shape of a rectangular plate and a frame 32 to support the edge of the support panel 31. The support panel 31 is made of transparent reinforced glass or resin.

At the inside edge of the frame 32 is formed a step-shaped support protrusion 33 to support the lower edge of the support panel 31. The support protrusion 33 is opened at the upper part thereof. Consequently, when the support panel 31 is placed on the frame 32 such that the support panel 31 is coupled to the frame 32, the lower edge of the support panel 31 is supported by the support protrusion 33.

As shown in FIG. 4, the frame 32 is provided at the front corners thereof with catchers 34 to catch the front corners of the support panel 31. The catchers 34 are disposed above the support protrusion 33, such that the catchers 34 are spaced a predetermined distance (a distance equivalent to the thickness of the support panel) from the support protrusion 33, to cover the front corners of the support panel 31. Consequently, when the support panel 31 is placed on the support protrusion 33 of the frame 32, the front corners of the support panel 31 are inserted below the catchers 34, and therefore, the front corners of the support panel 31 are coupled to the frame 32. At this time, the catchers are restricted to the front corners of the frame 32 and the top of the support protrusion 33, excluding regions corresponding to the catchers 34, are open for easy coupling of the support panel 31.

At the rear corners of the frame 32 are mounted coupling members 35 to couple the rear corners of the support panel 31 to the frame 32. For mounting of the coupling members 35, the frame 32 is provided at the rear corners thereof with mounting grooves 36.

As shown in FIG. 5, each coupling member 35 includes a support part 35 a to cover the top of the corresponding rear corner of the support panel 31 and hook coupling parts 35 b mounted in the corresponding mounting groove 36 of the frame 32. At inner opposite sides of the mounting groove 36 of the frame 32, in which the coupling member 35 is mounted, are formed catching grooves 36a, in which the hook coupling parts 35 b are coupled. Consequently, when the support panel 31 is placed on the frame 32, and the coupling member 35 is pushed downward such that the hook coupling parts 35 b of the coupling member 35 are inserted into the mounting grooves 36, the coupling member 35 is mounted to the frame 32. At this time, the coupling member 35 supports the top of the corresponding corner of the support panel 31 to fix the support panel 31.

Hereinafter, a method of assembling the shelf will be described.

The assembly of the support panel 31 to the frame 32 is performed as follows. First, the support panel 31 is placed on the frame 32 such that the lower edge of the support panel 31 is caught by the support protrusion 33 of the frame 32. At this time, the front corners of the support panel 31 are inserted below the catchers 34 formed at the front corners of the frame 32.

After the support panel 31 is placed on the frame 32, the coupling members 35 are mounted to the rear corners of the frame 32 to fix the rear corners of the support panel 31.

As is apparent from the above description, the shelf of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention is constructed in a structure in which the top of the supporting protrusion, excluding the regions corresponding to the catchers of the frame, is open. Consequently, it is possible to easily mount the support panel on the frame.

Furthermore, the front corners of the support panel are caught by the catchers formed at the corresponding corners of the frame, and the rear corners of the support panel are fixed by the coupling members. Consequently, it is possible to securely fix the support panel even through the simplified structure, thereby preventing the separation of the support panel, and therefore, preventing damage to the support panel.

Although an embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. 

1. A refrigerator comprising: a main body defining a storage compartment therein; and a shelf mounted in the storage compartment, wherein the shelf includes: a support panel, a frame to support an edge of the support panel, a support protrusion formed along an inside edge of the frame to support a lower edge of the support panel, a plurality of catchers formed at front corners of the frame to catch front corners of the support panel, and a plurality of coupling members mounted at rear corners of the frame to fix rear corners of the support panel.
 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a top of the support protrusion, excluding regions corresponding to the plurality of the catchers, is open.
 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein each of the coupling members includes a support part to cover a top of the corresponding corner of the support panel and a plurality of hook coupling parts mounted to the frame, and wherein the frame is provided at the rear corners thereof with catching grooves, in which the hook coupling parts are coupled.
 4. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of catchers are formed in a shape to cover a top of the front corners of the support panel.
 5. A refrigerator comprising: a shelf comprising: a support panel, and a frame fixed at corners of the support panel so that non-corner portions of the support panel are exposed. 